Failure of the educational system to provide for the ...

[Pages:32]DOCUMENT RgsumE

ED 031 348

RC 003 565

By-Karr, Ken; McGuire, Esther

Mexican Americans on the Move--Are Teacher Preparation Programs in Higher Education Ready?

Pub Date 69 Note-30p.

EDRS Price MF-$0.25 HC-SI.60

Descriptors-*Academic Achievement, Anglo Americans, Biculturalism, Bilingual Students, Counseling, Culture Conflict, *Dropout Rate, Education, Emoilonal Problems, English (Second Language), *Higher Education,

Language Handicaps,.Linguistics, Low Income Groups, *Mexican Americans, *Teacher Education, Values

Failure of the educational system to provide for the Mexican American student can be seen by his dropout rate which is twice that of the national average and by

his schooling ratio which is 8 years compared to 12 years for the average Anglo. In

order to solve the problems of the low-income, bicultural, bilingual Mexican American

student, higher education must prepare teachers who can cope with cultural,

psychological, and linguistic conflicts. To be effective in solving these problems a

teacher needs training: (1) to understand the dysfunctions between the values of the

Mexican American culture and that of the Anglo; (2) in counseling the particular

difficulties of this group; and (3) in linguistics and courses on how to teach English as

a second language. (RH)

MEXICAN AKERICANS ON THE MOVE-

ARE TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS IN

U.S. DEPARTMENT Of HEALTH, EDUCATION OFFICE Of EDUCATION

WELFARE

THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT. POINTS Of VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE Of EDUCATION

HIGHER EDUCATIOM READY?

Ken Karr Es ther McGuire

EcEi vEd

UG 8 .1869

r2.Z0i7

4.12LC.

POSITION OR POLICY.

12-1 ci.,:;;;"/

One of the urgent cries being heard by educators in the new social

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consciousness of today is from the Mexican-American community. At present,

pe\

the drop-out rate for Mexican-American students is twice that of the national

pr\

average, and the schooling ratio is eight years compared to 12 for the

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average Anglo youngster. 1 It has been predicted that by 1990 there will be

18

million

Spanish

surnamed

Americans

in

the

United

2

States.

Statistics of

this nature only accentuate the formidable problem facing our educational

system and suggest that immediate attention must be given to it if we are

going to prevent the present crisis from getting worse. As fewer opportunities

are available for the under-educated man, the goal of education must be a

drastic reversal of the present failure of our schools to provide for Mexican-

American students. Some progress has been made, but it is not compatible with

the enlarged demands that are being made on the syAem. We can recognize the

difficulty of precipatating a dramatic shift in educational organizations and

emphasis, for, as Donald N. Michael states, "The evidence seems to be quite

convincing that the most likely occasion for wide-spread innovation among

institutions occurs after a disaster."3 If this is what we are waiting for,

some quarters seem willing to provide this kind of pressure. However, we do

not feel that this is necessary. With the resources in manpower, wealth, and

knOwledge that this nation possesvies, the ideals that have always been the

basis for a truly democratic education for all students must be instrumented.

4.1.001.1.00110111011.10101ONIM...1..10

1.

Ruben Salazar, "Employers' Group Warned Minorities Must Have Jobs," L.A. Times" February 6, 1969, p. 3., col. 1.

01)

in

-2

Salazar, p. 3.

CVZ

3Donald N. Michae1,"Inhibitors and Facilities to the Acceptance of

4:)

Educational Innovations", in Werner Z. Hirsch, Inventing Education for the

FUture, (San Francisco, 1967), p. 275.

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Ar*

The critical problem is that these goals have often been given lip-service but have not been carried out in practical application; otherwise the present situation would not exist. "It was not very many years ago that relatively

few educators really cared whether the minority and culturally different

children in the schools succeeded in getting the kind of education necessary

to survive in our society, and all too many who were directly concerned with

the problem considered the environmental influences too formidable to overcome

4 in the classroom."

The results of our indifference are all too readily

observible to those who read the statistics and the headlines. Rather recently the problems encountered by members of minority races

in our educational system have beccyme the focus of extensive research and interpretation. However, educators have been preoccupied with "diagnosing the problem"; they are less successful at offering remedies. We hear the pedagogical jargon about the difficulty of "educating for the future" as an excuse for some of the shortcomings in our educational practices, but the tragedy is that education is going on every day based on Some "definite objectives." We must ask ourselves the disturbing question, then, if we cannot see what the goals are for the future, what are we using as our present guidelines? Are we not still educating for the past? Have we not ignored many of the obvious needs of the present? Or is it possible that the critics are becoming more vocal? Jose Avila of the East Los Angeles Labor committee critized the education of Mexican-Americans by saying "many Mexican-Americans are out in the streets who learned how to make ash trays in school craft shops

5 but did not learn any skills which weuld help them to get jobs."

=1111.1.M111.111.11111

Itay Ware, "Reading for the Disadvantaged," Issues and Innovations in the Teaching of Reading, Joe Frost, Ed. (Illinois, 1967), p. 287.

5Sa1azar, p. 3.

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a

3

Dr. Thomas Carter of the University of Texas at El Paso estimates that 80 per6

cant of the Mexican-Americans who begin school in Texas do not graduate.

In Los Angeles, with the largest concentration of..Mexican-Americans in the country (approximately 600,000), in two high schools with heavy Mexican-American

populations, the student loss is 50 per cent.7

In "From Debate to Action," Dan W. Dodson suggests that we quit "scape-

goating our failures by blaming 'human potential' instead of the institution."

He suggests that "no magic gimmic is needed to turn the trick" of educating

them. "It only requires teachers who believe they can learn, principals who

help create learning situations by good supervision, and a leadership within

8

the community to support the endeavor."

Perhaps this is a simplified view of

the problems involved, but it does suggest some important directions for

acting on the problem, rather than merely dissecting it. What can be done to

combat this problem right now? The purpose of this paper is to suggest methods that can be used to

prepare teachers to work with the low-income, bi-cultural, bi-lingual MexicanAmerican student. The writers recognize the multi-dimensional aspects of the problem and are not suggesting that the education of teachers will, by itself, solve the complex issues involved. We do see it, however, as a necessary ingredient in the solution. The generalizations offered are not to be taken as absolutes, but each point must be interpreted in the context of the local situaticn and with the respect of the individuality of each particular student

uppermost in the mind of the teacher. One of the ways that me can approach the problem is to look at some of

6Armando Rodripez, "Bilingual Education - A Look Ahead" Educational 12.9111.212u, Sept. 30, 1968, p. 20.

7Rodriguez, p. 20.

8Danl#. Dodson, "From Depate to Action", Educational LeadersIAE, Nov.,

1968, p. 117.

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the points made in general research literature. Arthur Combs' theory of

instruction maintains that "developing an independent.person0 is one of the

primary goals of education. He states that "how one feels about himself is a

basic determiner of what he will learn, how great his insights will be, and

what functional use he will be able to make of his own learnings and

10 insights." It is the contention of the writers of this paper that the self-

concept of the Mexican-American should be the primary target of instructional

objectives. If the student is to learn, he (1) must think that he can learn,

(2) must have a teacher whe thinks he can learn, and (3) must be given the

opportunity to learn. If the Rosenthal theory of expectation teaches us any-

thing, it is that the teacher should develop the most encouraging attitude

possible toward her students. One of the most important attributes that a

teacher can possess is the attitude of belief in the.limitless potential

of the human personality. Only recently, Dr. Samuel Shephard, director of

the Banneker project in St. Louis, threw out I.Q. test results and stated,

"A child's limitations in academie learning are determined only by his drive

and determination."11 Unrest in the Mexican-American community helped the

Los Angeles school board reach a similar conclusion in regard to I.Q. tests,

at least in the first and second grades. The Los Angeles school board and

the situation in St. Louis are not ignoring the biological make-up of the

students; they are merely trying to overcome the negative effects that a

reliance on an I.Q. score has brought about too many times. It is especially

true in the area of the culturally different. One of the tragedies of our

educational system is that even when Mexican-American students start school

Nonstr wit,!t ihe same I.(4.'s as a control group a Anglo students, the I.Q.'s of the

9Nathaniel H. Moore, "Research Themes in Instructional Theory," Educational Leadership,'Nov., 1968, p. 157.

10Moore p, 157,

ware, Issues, p. 287.

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5

Mexican-Americans tend to decrease steadily in comparison to the Anglo's as

12

they progress, or should we say digress, through school.

Might we be asking

the following question, Wow is each child perceiving himself, his world, and his place in the world? If he perceives each day in school as failure, the

school fails the child and the child, in all probability, will fail mankind.

With these problems in mind, wa have to find ways to reach the Mexican-

American in such a way that his self-concept will be healthy and productive.

The teacher-training institutions must accept the responsibility of preparing teachers who can deal with this critical problem. In order to do this,

teacher-training institutions must be oriented to the conflicts that our school

syatem creates for the Mexican-American student and must know how to counteract

the difficulties that are naused. For purposes of discussion, the writers have divided the types of conflict

faced by Mexican-American Students into three areas: (1) cultural conflicts; (2) psychological conflicts; (3) linguistic conflicts. It is evident that the problems are interrelated and cannot, in actual practice be seen as independent variables. However, in order for the institutions to view more clearly the problems involved, and to determine in what areas of teacher-education they can best be dealt with, we have chosen these three categories. It should bather be clarified that the students under consideration, and the generalizations formulated, refer mostly to the less advantaged segment of the Mexican-American population. Although many of the points are certainly relevant to other portions of the school population, further discussion is mainly concerned with the low-income, bi-lingual, bi-cultural Mexican-American student.

12Celia Heller, Mexican American Youth: Forgotter Touth at the Crossroads. (New York, 196 ), p.

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6

CULTURAL CONFLICTS

Degrees of Acculturation Madsen divides the Mexican-Americans into three groups in their position

of acculturation. He describes the first as the "folk society that still t ". 13

retains the core values of :lexicon folk culture." The second level "embraces 14

those individuals who are caught in the value conflict between two cultures."

"The third level of acculturation includes those Mexican-Americans who have achieved status in the English-speaking world."15 Our observations would

appear to have more relevancy for the first two groups.

Barriers to Bi-Culturalism in America According to Armando Rodriguez, "Our basically monolingual-monocultural

society is the by-product of early concepts of isolation - political, 16

geographical, cultural." This is no longer a valid concept for our nation. Contrary to earlier immigrants, who cut their ties with their mother land, the 4exican-Ameri2an who has immigrated from Mexico, can always go home. He keeps his ties, because they are near, not only in the historical sense, but also in the geographic sense. However, the American culture resists these challenges to its traditionally monocultural society, and this produces conflicts for the Mexican-American. We have not denied the existence of sub-

cultures in our wider societyj but we have endeavored to mold the children into the predominant culture, sometimes with utter disregard for the tensions produced. In the past "assimilation" and "acculturation" were considered the

13William Madsen, The Mexican-Americans of South Texas (New York, 1964),

p. 2

14Madsen, p. 3.

15Madsen, p, 3.

16/todriguez,p. 20.

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goals of the schools, and by many still are. However, the new renaissance of pride in the racial heritage of many of the minorities in our society are determined that democratic pluralism should exist in the schools as well as in the total society. The teacher who has no knowledge of the culture of the minority group and who restricts her concerns to her own value orientation will undoubtedly clash head-on with the new generation of culturally different children.

Differences in Minority Cultures To be effective, a teacher needs training to understand the dysfunctions

between the values of the Mexican-American culture and that of the Anglo. All too frequently we have categorized all minority groups under one label of culturally disadvantaged or culturally deprived and have failed to distinguish the critical differences4 It becomes obvious as one studies the situation that it is inadequate to equate the problems of the distinct groups by an overall assessment of their socio-economic position. Each group brings to the situation diverse elements that must be considered in order to reach any conclusions concerning possible solutions. Whereas research states the Negro is generally in agreement with the culture of the dominant group, the Mexican-American is equipped with a decidedly different set of beliefs, values, and goals.

pamily The essential cultural conflicts that face the Mexican-American student

originate in the family. The structure is modeled after a different pattern than the Anglo family. The Anglo family can be said to be relatively democratic with the rights of each being generally respected, although each has a different role to fulfill. Talcott Parsons describes the typical pattern in the middle-class dominant culture group as having an "instrumental" father and an "expressive" mother. The "instrumental" father is "the person responsible for maintaining the family's position in relation to the outside

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